Anakbayan New Jersey (ABNJ) proudly endorsed the ICE FREE NJ “Thanksgiving Dinner” action outside the Elizabeth Detention Center on November 20, 2015. The mock dinner was held for families still torn apart despite more than a year of waiting for the relief promised by President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Residents (DAPA) last November 9th. Also known as “Executive Amnesty,” DAPA has been halted since Texas Judge Andrew Hanen issued an injunction to block the implementation in February 2015. Twenty-six other states have followed suit in suing against the policy.

In 2014, there were 11.3 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Newark alone has a population of 300,000 immigrants. “It’s very traumatic living in a new country, working at low income jobs with at times, harsh conditions and no insurance,” said Brian Flores, Solidarity Officer of Anakbayan New Jersey, “You are in fear of being deported, while merely surviving. Not having documents is leaves families vulnerable. Undocumented people have the right to live and work, without any free of being deported. It is time to hold Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) accountable for its abusive behavior.”

Every one in six Filipinos is undocumented. 6,000 Filipinos leave the country every day due to Labor Export Policy, instated during the Marcos regime and still practiced today. The Philippine education system has shifted to add two additional years to prepare youth for overseas labor to other countries. Although the Philippine government boasts increases in GDP, 10% of the economy is bolstered by remittances. All Filipinos must organize to combat the root of an immigration system made for profit and not for people. With initiatives such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will only exacerbate neoliberal economic policies that drive our people out of their countries and to separate them from their families. Delayed legislation will not free our people, only by destroying the three basic problems can migration be a genuine choice for the people.